Vol. 489 No. 5
8 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the position regarding the review of Dublin's suburban rail development needs; the specific proposals to upgrade the Dublin to Maynooth suburban rail service; the discussions, if any, commenced with the European Commission on funding the required development ; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8358/98]
CIE completed a technical and policy review of suburban rail investment requirements for the greater Dublin area last year. The company subsequently engaged independent consultants to carry out an economic and financial evaluation of the proposed investment programme contained in the review document and their interim report has recently been received. The consultants' final report is expected to be received within the next couple of weeks.
From work done to date it is clear that there are three principal components to the upgrading of the Dublin-Maynooth rail service. The first and most important is an upgrading of signalling in the city centre area to facilitate increased levels of service. This is a prerequisite for the other investment. The other elements are an upgrading of trackwork, including the doubling of the line from Clonsilla to Maynooth, and the provision of additional rolling stock.
